On a rainy summer morning, prospective students and their families gathered at the Visitor Center in McKissick Museum and attentively listened as two university ambassadors welcomed them to the University of South Carolina.
The gloomy weather did nothing to dull the ambassador’s enthusiasm as they breezed through introductions and started the campus tour with a comprehensive history of the buildings that line the historic Horseshoe.
University ambassadors are often the first faces potential students see when they visit campus. The program, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, provides prospective students and their families a glimpse of student life through campus tours and ambassadors sharing anecdotes about their experiences as Gamecocks. It gives the student ambassadors the opportunity to share their passion for USC with visitors.
Carlee Downs and Brianna Hughey are two of those ambassadors who have been doing just that. Being in the university ambassadors’ program not only allows them to share their love for the university with visitors, but also to develop professional skills and take on new opportunities.
It was during Carlee Downs’ campus tour, standing as a high school student on the Pickens Street bridge, watching students bustle around and taking in the atmosphere, when she knew USC was the school for her.
“My mom was like, ‘I felt like at any moment you were just going to turn your back and follow the crowd and just be gone,’” says Downs, who is from Graniteville, South Carolina. “I always knew I wanted to come here, but that's when USC felt like home for me.”
That experience stuck with her as she began her freshman year. One day when she was walking out of Russell House, she saw the ambassador that led her campus tour and decided to stop and chat. Her old tour guide told her about the university ambassadors program which prompted her to apply. Now, she’s been a part of the program for two years.
“It's a job, but it does not feel like a job at all,” she says. “I come in to work and I get to do something that I really enjoy doing. Giving campus tours is one of the highlights of my college experience.”
Being a university ambassador has helped her learn more about USC, but also helped her grow personally and professionally. After graduating, she hopes to be a teacher and says that talking to the parents of potential students has been great practice for her future.
“In a classroom when you are student teaching, you get to work with the students, but you don't really get that exposure to the parents,” Downs says. “That's one of the biggest things that giving campus tours has helped me to do — talk to parent and ease their concerns.”
One of the most fulfilling parts about being an ambassador, she says, is the impact she has on prospective students who become Gamecocks.
“I’ve had countless students come up and say, ‘I recognize you. You're my tour guide. You're the reason why I'm here,’” she says. “I don't get to see all of it through, but the ones who do reach out and tell me I’ve made an impact on them — I’m the reason why they’re at South Carolina — is really cool.”
Brianna Hughey knew she wanted to be a university ambassador when she went on her first tour. She applied for the program when she was still in high school after asking her tour guide about her experience.
“I've always been an involved person, but I had no idea what the program would be like when I applied and got in,” says Hughey, who is from Union, South Carolina. “But I am so glad that I did because it has literally shaped my whole entire college experience.”
Being an ambassador has opened doors for her to get involved in other activities on campus like Student Gamecock Television and appearing in a commercial for the university.
She says getting to know students who went on her tours and are now Carolina students is one of the most rewarding things about the job.
“I've gotten DMs on social media from students who have taken my tours just thanking me for influencing their college decisions and getting them excited about college,” she says. “Throughout my four years I've met people who have been on my tours, and we've become really good friends. I've also encouraged others to join different organizations.”
One of the advantages of being at USC, she says, is the wide range of activities and opportunities on campus.
“I love to tell students that no matter who you are, you can find a place for yourself at USC,” she says. “Even though we are such a large school, the community is so tight knit that it does not feel like there's 35,000 students here. I found my main community within university ambassadors, but I've also been able to find so many pocket communities that tailor to every part of my personality. If you're lost, you will find your place at USC.”